


You're the Cream in My Coffee

by Cherry Bomb (ShowMeAHero)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Blind Date, First Kiss, Friendship, Gen, Kissing, M/M, Matchmaking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 18:48:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13301019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShowMeAHero/pseuds/Cherry%20Bomb
Summary: prompt from anonymous: “Imagine a coffee shop au ft. Poe and Finn ☕”





	You're the Cream in My Coffee

Thank God for Poe Dameron.

You had desperately needed a job, and he had so kindly provided one, after you stumbled upon the  _ help wanted  _ sign in the window of his coffee shop and immediately opened the door and asked for an interview. It was a nice place to work; it was warm, the customers were relatively pleasant. The atmosphere was comfortable.

Best of all, your coworkers were  _ amazing. _

You worked a few of your shifts with Rey, a young woman about your age who had a habit of sneaking pastries when she thought nobody was looking - and sneaking you some, too, even when you didn’t catch her.

You had worked once or twice with Ben, but he was a quiet man who didn’t seem to prefer to spend any time talking to anyone. He liked texting furiously on his phone and annoying the patrons, but generally didn’t get into too much trouble. You didn’t love working with him, but at least he gave you peace and quiet.

You caught sight of the owners a few times, and even spoke with them once or twice. The place was owned by a couple, Han and Leia Solo, who were also Ben’s parents (which explained a lot about why he still had a job there). Further, it was managed by Leia’s twin brother, Luke, an older man with a prosthetic arm and endless stories about his life until that point. Some seemed made up, but some truly struck you as just an incredible life well-lived.

Your favorite shifts were worked with Poe Dameron himself, who had hired you and who seemed to be next in charge after Luke and Leia, and Finn, a barista like yourself who always had a smile and an anecdote and a cup of coffee for anyone who made eye contact with him. You learned from Rey that he was a veteran, and somehow his personality had come out the other side unscathed - possibly, Rey once ventured, mouth full of doughnut, his personality was even more happy, even more optimistic, as if in defiance of the experiences he had been through.

The thing about Finn and Poe, though, was that you had assumed they were  _ together. _ Dating, at the very least. Your first assumption was that they were probably already married - they had that kind of easy familiarity and level of comfort with one another that was typically indicative of years of intimacy. You made the mistake, of course, of mentioning this to Rey while Poe and Finn were within earshot, sharing the  _ same cup of coffee  _ \- you thought you could be forgiven the mistake when they did things like  _ that. _

“So,” you had said, leaning over the counter, pretending not to notice that Rey was pilfering pumpkin bread like it was her job. “How long have Finn and Poe been married?”

Finn had immediately coughed up all the coffee in his mouth out of his nose while Poe laughed until he stopped breathing and his face went red.

“They’re not married,” Rey had managed to inform you, around her own laughter. You had frowned.

“Dating, then?” you ventured, and Finn struggled to regain his ability to breathe. You had then learned they were  _ best friends, nothing more, _ in their words, though the knowing eyes Rey had given you silently over the counter suggested she thought otherwise.

Now, you knew they weren’t together-together, but wondered  _ why. _ They lived together; they drove in together every day in Poe’s car. They adopted a  _ dog  _ together. You could swear, they only thing they  _ didn’t  _ do that couples normally did was kiss, and they seemed pretty close a few times, at that.

You and Rey were the only ones working on a slow evening shift one day when you turned to her. Her whole face immediately lit up.

“You have an idea,” she said, and you hesitated, then nodded.

“I just don’t  _ get  _ why Finn and Poe aren’t dating,” you said. Rey snorted, waving a hand.

“They basically are,” she reminded you. “They just haven’t figured it out.”

“I want them to figure it out,” you told her, and she smiled, delighted.

“Lay it on me,” she said. “I want them to be happy,  _ finally.  _ It’s about time.”

You had a plan, in a way. Specifically, you had a WikiHow article that offered specific instructions on how to set your friends up with one another.

“It’s not  _ quite  _ what we want to do,” you explained, handing your phone over to Rey so she could read the article while you waited on a customer, “but it’s close enough, I think.”

She skimmed through the article, grinning the whole time, before she looked up at you and said, “Let’s do it.”

 

**STEP ONE - Stick to setting up people you already know well.**

 

“Done,” Rey said, as the two of you sat down to plan out the whole date. You nodded, peering over her shoulder at her notes.

 

**STEP TWO - Match up friends who have something in common.**

 

“What  _ don’t  _ they have in common?” you asked. Rey laughed.

“Parents?” Rey suggested. “That might be it. Finn’s more of a morning person. There’s not much they don’t have in common.”

“You know what they  _ do  _ have in common?” you asked. Rey hummed, still taking her notes. “They already are in love with each other, but are too  _ fucking dumb  _ to figure it out.”

Rey laughed. “Nailed it.”

 

**STEP THREE - Tell your friends your intentions.**

 

“Oh, that’s easy,” Rey said, pulling her phone out. You kept reading the instructions in the article.

“It says not to be sneaky,” you told her.

“Too late,” she said.

“It also says,” you continued, “to be sure to highlight the positives about the other person.”

“Oh, no sweat,” Rey said. She sent a text to Finn, then turned her phone around to show you what the text said:  _ I’m setting you up on a blind date. Guy’s handsome, sweet - really the whole package. Right up your alley. You in? _

“To the point,” you commented. Rey nodded, sending a similar text to Poe. Both of them replied with similar variants on “sure, yeah, whatever.” Rey high-fived you.

 

**STEP FOUR - Consider the consequences if the match doesn’t work out.**

 

“Ugh,” Rey said, sliding down in her armchair. “We’d be no worse off than we are right now. At  _ worst, _ they don’t realize it’s a date and just end up hanging out like they always do.”

“At best?” you asked, and Rey smiled.

“At best, we’re  _ free,”  _ Rey joked. You shoved at her arm, but she just kept laughing.

 

**STEP FIVE - Be subtle when introducing the two friends.**

 

Now, you were actually in the process of sending Finn and Poe on the blind date. You had decided to hold it in the coffee shop itself, and Poe had showed up first, looking devastatingly handsome in a button-down with his hair pushed back. He took the coffee you held out to him and took up his post at a table by the window, waiting for his mysterious blind date.

When Finn came in, the two of them waved to each other before Finn made his way through the other patrons to talk to him. You exchanged a glance with Rey, who nodded once before ghosting her way to their table. You slid to the end of the counter to more effectively listen in.

“Hey,” you heard Finn say. “You set Poe up on a blind date, too?”

“Oh, yeah, sure did,” Rey said. You chanced a glance at them and saw Rey motioning between the two of them. “Finn, this is Poe. Poe, Finn.”

“What?” they asked, incredulous, at the same time.

“Enjoy,” Rey said quickly, coming back behind the counter to deal with the next customer. Poe and Finn both looked bewildered; you had to look away to keep from laughing.

“It said  _ subtle,” _ you reminded Rey. She laughed.

“How wasn’t that subtle?” she joked.

 

**STEP SIX - Arrange a casual meeting.**

 

“Done,” Rey said, observing as Finn carefully sit down at Poe’s table. Poe slid his coffee across the table and Finn took a sip, seemingly without even realizing they were sharing,  _ again. _

“Do you think they’re okay?” you asked, as Finn asked Poe something and Poe suddenly lit up, talking animatedly, hands flying through the air as he spoke. Rey glanced over your shoulder at them.

“Oh, yeah,” Rey asked. “The only thing I’m not sure of is how this’ll end.”

“How so?” you asked, getting back to work, brewing up a new pot of decaf.

“If it’ll end with heads being pulled out of asses,” she said, “or only getting shoved further in.”

 

**STEP SEVEN - Avoid forcing a love match.**

 

“I don’t think we’re the ones avoiding that,” Rey commented. Finn and Poe were alternating their glances back at you; Rey just kept motioning for them to keep talking to one another.

“Tell me about it,” you replied.

 

**STEP EIGHT - Keep follow up to a minimum.**

 

“It says to step aside and not interrupt,” you told Rey, reading the article off your phone still. She drummed her fingers on the countertop, irritated. The shop was nearing empty; closing time was nearly upon them, and Finn and Poe were still deeply engrossed in conversation like they had no other cares in the world.

“But I want to know how it’s going,” Rey complained. She sighed, then turned to the late-night patron who had stepped up to the counter.

 

**STEP NINE - Refrain from interfering.**

 

_ “Rey,”  _ you said, and Rey stepped back behind the counter with a sigh.

“I just want to check in,” she said, and you shook your head.

“The  _ article,  _ Rey,” you reminded her. “It says our work is done.”

“But this isn’t a normal situation,” she said. “This is different.  _ Special.” _ She sighed again, drumming her fingers on the countertop all over again, clearly thinking hard about something. All of a sudden, she relaxed, grinning. “Oh, I’ve got it.” She vanished into the back room before you could even ask what her plan was. She re-emerged right in front of Leia, who was grinning like Rey had just told her Christmas was coming early.

“I heard we have a date going well in here,” Leia said loudly, making Finn jump and Poe bury his face in his hands.

_ “Leia,”  _ you heard him groan. She came up beside the table and leaned down to talk to them in hushed tones. Rey stood on her tiptoes, presumably trying to lip-read, to no avail.

 

**STEP TEN - Set aside your personal feelings.**

 

“Obviously we can’t do that,” you commented. “That’s the last step, though.”

“That’s it?” she asked. “There’s no more steps?”

“There’s some tips,” you said. “And warnings.”

“What are those?”

“The tips say to only attempt to set up friends you know really well-”

“We did that.”

“To be honest with your friends about your intention to set them up-”

“We sort of did that.”

“And to introduce two people who have something in common.”

“Oh, we definitely did that.” Rey turned to you. “What are the warnings?”

“Oh, um,” you said, pulling up the list. “First, make sure that the two people you want to set up are actually single.”

“That’s been done for a  _ long  _ time.”

“Next, don’t force a love connection. There simply might not be any chemistry between the two.”

“Doesn’t apply.”

“Last, be prepared to handle the outcome, whether they form a relationship or not.”

You and Rey both looked at each other, then looked up to find Leia standing right in front of you.

“I hope you’re prepared,” Leia commented, motioning behind her. The three of you turned to see Poe and Finn leaving the coffee shop, pointedly not looking back at you as they stopped just outside the door. They were speaking in low tones to one another, speaking rapidly, breath puffing in the cold air between them, before Finn leaned in and took Poe’s head in his hands, kissing him soundly. You and Rey both let out startled cheers, Rey throwing her arms up in the air in her excitement.

“We did it!” you exclaimed. Leia patted you both on the shoulders before going back into the back room.

“It’s about  _ time,”  _ Rey said. She turned back to you. “Pull up that article. I think we need to include an eleventh step.”

“Can do,” you said, pulling out your phone.

 

**STEP ELEVEN - Celebrate your triumph.**

 

“To us,” Rey said, handing you a slice of lemon poppy seed bread. You raised the slice in toast.

“To us,” you said, looking over Rey’s shoulder at Finn and Poe, still kissing each other by the doorway. Rey turned and looked out at them, sighing.

“I think,” she said, “we’ve put ourselves in a whole new hell.”

“I’m fine with that,” you told her. She smiled.

“Yeah,” she said. “Yeah, me, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on my blog for imagines, which you can find and submit requests to [here!](https://imagine-in-the-fandoms.tumblr.com/ask)


End file.
